The Native Tongue
by Tsume Yuki
Summary: I can not speak Japanese. And, well, when you find yourself dropped into a Japanese anime, knowing the language usually helps. Self-Insert
1. Chapter 1

**The Native Tongue  
Chapter 1**

* * *

_Okay, let me start by saying one thing. I can not speak Japanese. Nope, nada, zip. Not one word spoken to me will be registered... Well, that's a bit of a lie, I know what hello is, and I can gather someone's name, but that doesn't really count does it? No? Didn't think so._

_Well, when you find yourself dropped into a Japanese anime, knowing the language usually helps. Normally helps a lot. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact I'd fallen into the midsts of a shinobi camp, I would probably be in for a much harder life. _  
_As it was, getting thrown across a clearing and shattering my wrist bone seemed like the worst it was going to be getting._

_For now anyway._

* * *

Tenzō, wood jutsu wielder of the ANBU, was sat before the open fire of their camp, smokeless dry wood burning before him. Their catch of the day -a wild boar that'd gotten just a bit too close to the shinobi- was roasting pleasantly away, the faint sound of skin crackling an echoing noise in the almost silent camp forest. Somewhere out in the woods, his sempai was off collecting information on the rouge ninja they'd been ordered to track down.  
Tenzō didn't have a problem with remaining at camp, it was a quiet, peaceful place where he could be at one with nature. The only surprise would come from anyone that attempted to trample towards him. And there were a multitude of traps around the perimeter of his camp site that would soon dispose or incapacitate any would be assailants.

So all in all, it was a relatively easy mission if one were to discount the upcoming bloodshed. But five minutes of fighting in the week's period they'd been given to track him down? Tenzō was not stupid; it was nice to have a mission where they could afford to take it slow for once.

.

Ever since the Kyuubi attack five years ago, the village had been in a deep pit of recession, few people wanted to risk going to a disaster zone to request help, what good was a village that couldn't look after itself?  
As a result, mission pricing had been put up, and the lower rankings had taken a pay cut so that Konoha could gather enough money to get back up and on its feet. Now though, in these previous weeks, things were starting to look up.

In a moment of tactical brilliance, Sarutobi had dropped the mission price low, lower than any other hidden village, and the missions had come flooding in. Whilst this was good news for the village, it did mean that few ninja had been able to take a rest between missions. And as such, Tenzō was taking it nice and slowly with this one.  
It helped that his sempai agreed.

.

Reaching for the meat, Tenzō pulled back his skewered lunch, feeling out with his chakra for his team-mate. When he felt nothing but nature's wilderness, the brunette happily dug in.

And then a girl dropped on him.

.

Being a ninja, Tenzō was rarely caught off guard, and even in these moments, he was quick to react. Tearing the meat from his metal skewer, he wielded the makeshift weapon and turned towards the girl that he had hastily thrown off him. And then he stilled.

Through natural instinct he'd thrown the girl from his body, fully expecting the enemy ninja to recover and come back at him for another attempt. However, the girl was not back on her feet, and certainly not armed with a weapon he could see.

The first thing he noticed was her body language, defensive and protective of herself, curled up in an attempt to make herself look like less of a threat; funny seeing as she'd been the one to throw herself on him.  
The second thing he noticed was the way she was cradling her hand, wrist clearly having taken the impact of her fall and snapped under the pressure. Tears were leaking from her eyes, shallow moans of disbelieving pain escaping her throat. It was painful to witness. The final thing he noticed was her state of dress. Or rather, undress.

A sleeveless shirt covered her torso in a sunny shade of yellow, contrasting against her tearful features. Her breasts -to which Tenzō averted his eyes soon after noticing them- were clearly unbound and large for a girl of her build, though nothing obscenely noticeable like the great Tsunade's. Legs were bare, her behind covered in a pair of lace-trimmed black panties, to which the wood user also averted his eyes, focusing on her face.

The girl was no ninja, probably a civilian from her body structure and behaviour; she did not possess the toned figure of a kunoichi. She was instead slim with traces of fat in specific areas, a small covering over her stomach and along her hips. For a civilian she may be considered somewhat fit, but her figure indicated curves.

Which brought him to the greatest question yet, how had this girl snuck up on him? It was painfully apparent that she was not trained, nor even naturally skilled at the art of sneaking. So how had she managed it?

.

With a sigh, Tenzō decided to do the decent thing whilst waiting for the girl to recover from the shock of her broken wrist. He fetched his travellers cloak, slowly approaching the girl before wearily draping it over her shoulders.  
Her head snapped up; heart shaped face, traces of puppy fat, dark brown eyes all framed by lightly coloured, wavy brown hair that just missed out on hitting her shoulders.

"Can I look at your wrist?" It would need to be set, and a small twinge of guilt coiled up in his stomach because that was his fault, he'd thrown her away without assessing the situation.  
Her face scrunched up in confusion, eyes both panicked and untrusting as she attempted to shuffled away from him.

"I just wanna help, it's broken," he gestured to the injured forearm and she actually hissed at him, backing up as quickly as possible. And then there it was, the no nonsense sentence that flew from her mouth, that was clearly questioning him but he didn't know she was saying.  
It was like a completely different language.

* * *

_I know. It's horrible. I landed on this guy, who I would later learn to be Tenzō, only to end up thrown to a side and getting my wrist broken. I can't remember how I ended up here. Can't quite remember much actually. I'd gone to bed, and then I'd woken up. Only the fact that I'd apparently jumped from one world to another escaped me._

_If it hadn't been for the pain in my wrist, I'd without a doubt been mortified by my state of attire. Most people don't care what they sleep in, I was only thankful -and still am- that I didn't sleep butt naked. I don't think I could have lived that embarrassment down. Not that my dignity was a top priority, instead I focused on the fact I was wounded, in a place that was most certainly not my room, and was unable to understand a word that was being said to me._

_You could probably guess what conclusion I jumped to first._

_It was only after a solid ten minutes that I was able to breathe and start calmly assessing the situation._

* * *

When the girl had all but freaked out when he'd tried to take hold of her wrist, Tenzō had backed up, giving her some space to breathe. And he'd observed.

At first the girl had drawn the cloak in on herself with her one good hand, shivering in the cool air of frost country, but still more focused on her wrist. It was at about this point Tenzō was able to get a good idea of her age, perhaps about 18 if he didn't take into account her baby-face; a year younger than sempai and three years his senior.  
And yet, as a civilian her mindset would be so much more immature than what his was. Evident in the way in which she dealt with her current situation.

.

It was around the nine minute mark that she started looking over at him, eyes rimmed with sore red flesh and a watery frown upon her face, but the tears had stopped. Which was good, because that meant progress.

Fifty eight seconds later and she shakily stood, cloak wrapped around her body and a grimace on her face. She spoke again, clearly addressing him but the words flew right over his head, spoken fast in a tongue he didn't understand. The girl seemed to realise it too, for her forehead crinkled, creating three indented lines as the muscles beneath her brow expressed her frustration.

Then, she knelt beside him, grabbing a straight branch of wood before gingerly placing it along her broken forearm. Then, she mimicked a wrapping gesture.  
She wanted him to fix her hand. Or was asking if he could. Either one or the other. So he reached into his pack, grasping at the roll of bandages that sat at the bottom before producing them from the canvas depths, offering them to the girl for her perusal. By the way in which her face flooded with relief, this was clearly what she's wanted, and she gestured for him to proceed.

He sat by her side, slowly wrapping her hand with a splinter from the straight wood he'd produced earlier for a fire later that day. She sat back and grimaced, but didn't cry again. Her nerves weren't quite steel, but something close. For a civilian that was. A small whimper of pain did escape her though when she twitched and as a resulted he'd pressed down on her skin by accident. It was cool to the touch and he'd have to see if he could get her to change into his spare clothes.

.

When at last the splint was finished, Tenzō watched as the girl adjusted herself, moving off from her haunches before settling into a crossed leg position, giving him a small smile as she did so.  
Feeling utterly ridiculous, Tenzō pressed a hand to his chest before pronouncing his name as clearly and slowly as he dared, making sure it was slow enough to catch, but not so slow as to insult her intelligence. Her brown eyes widened slightly, head tilting to the side to express her curiosity before her lips curved upwards.

"Uki," she whispered, accent strange as the word fell awkwardly from her tongue; pressing one hand against her collar bones to indicate that yes, she understood and that yes, that was her name. Or at least, what he could address her as.

* * *

_Yes, I know. I'm not Japanese, that obviously isn't your name. _  
_Well of course it's not, but do you think I'm going to give my real one out in a primary speaking Japanese world? That would be like crying out 'target me!' and that would not be a good idea. Which is why I mumbled the first word that came to mind. _

_I probably screwed over the pronunciation, but right then, unable to understand anything beyond the fact that yes, I was most certainty in the Naruto world -look, it's a younger Yamato!- and that no, I couldn't tell anyone about the future because no one understood a word I said._

* * *

It was a few seconds after Uki had turned her attention to the fire that Yamato remembered the boar. Which was now on the earth, where an opportunistic bird was pulling away at the remains.  
Signing, he reached into his bag for a ration bar before rethinking and pulling two out instead of the one he had been going for.

"Uki-san?"  
Her head snapped up to look at him, recognising her name despite the honorific he'd tagged onto it. He offered up a bar, having no words to explain what it was or question whether she was hungry. Unsurprisingly enough, she took the bar, twisting it over in her hands repeatedly as if looking for the secrets it held. Her hands traced over the writing with obvious confusion -so it wasn't just spoken language, her written language was different too- before pulling at the packaging.

Tenzō sat back, questions spinning in his head that she wouldn't be able to answer yet, watching as the girl took her first bite of a shinobi ration bar. She recoiled at the taste, sending him an accusing glare out the corner for her eyes as she did so. Like her forehead had done before, when she expressed her disapproval the skin around the bridge of her nose wrinkled, so strange from the usual smooth, emotionless faces he saw in his kind of work.

"Yuck," she grumbled, a clear sign of her displeasure at having to swallow part of the bar before she stared at it again in what appeared to be consideration. Then, she took another bite of the bar. Her facial expression didn't change from disgust, but she finished off the bar. Tenzō could only chuckle because she must have been desperately hungry to finish off that bar. Even hardened shinobi were weary of the stuff.  
He on the other hand didn't mind it, so took a hearty bite out of his own share.

.

Once they'd thrown the decomposable wrappers upon the fire, Tenzō once again reached out with his chakra, searching for his sempai but felt no other signatures nearby. Which was odd, because...  
Slowly turning to look at the girl, at Uki, Tenzō frowned as he focused. Deep down inside the girl rested a small amount of undiluted chakra, with only the smallest trickle leaking into her coils. It was one of the strangest systems he'd ever had the displeasing confusion to sense.

.

He was brought back from his thoughts when the girl muttered a word. She had already claimed the roll of bandages, and was holding onto the thin strap of her yellow shirt as she slowly repeated the word again. It made no sense to him, but from what she was holding and her current situation, he was quick to deduce the probable answer.

"Clothes?" He mused aloud, but the girl only stared back, eyebrows lifting in painfully annoying confusion. So instead he produced his spare turtle neck from his bag along with the cropped trousers that came down to his shins. They looked to be the same height, so with any luck they would fit her.  
Accepting the gift, the girl disappeared into his tent and Tenzō resolved to give the girl some much needed privacy.

.

She appeared five minutes later, wearing his clothes and clinging to the last of the bandages that she hadn't used to bind her chest. The clothes were a little tight on her in some places, such as her hips chest and bottom, but she was dealing well. Her yellow vest was thrown over one shoulder; he quickly assumed she was still wearing the panties and was unable to help the blush that covered his face.  
Uki noticed, but whether she realises he was blushing at that thought or the fact his clothes weren't a perfect fit on her, he wasn't sure.  
Now that they we're stood face to face he realised his previous assumption of them being the same height wasn't right, she was three inches taller than his five foot two. The trousers rose to mid shin on her and to combat the awkward sleeves she'd rolled them up to her elbows.

"Tenzō?" His name, though slowly pronounced, left her lips and she frowned, clearly not happy how she struggled over the words. Then blushing, she mimicked taking a drink from an invisible glass of water. He couldn't help it, he laughed. She pouted in return, one lip jutting out beneath the other as she crossed her arms in mock anger at her embarrassment.

"Water?" He questioned, lifting up his flask and watching as her face lit up. She repeated the word four times before he decided she could pronounce it well enough, handing it over and laughing when she growled at him in her mock anger. It was painfully obvious she wasn't a ninja because she didn't check the water before taking a swing, instead just placing her blind trust in the first person she'd met. It was refreshing, but oh so dangerous.

.

She'd long since handed the water bottle back and the two of them had been sat around the fire, enjoying the rising morning sun as it heated the world around them.  
Then, the girl seemed to be hit with some brilliant idea or another, because she latched onto his pack, rooting through it and hissing when she nicked her good arm on a kunai. Luckily it was a shallow cut, and she seemed to have learnt her lesson because she went about her searching in a much more careful manner. Tenzō didn't see anything wrong with her looking through his pack, there was nothing in there that she could possibly kill him with at her skill level. Though he would say he was surprised when she pulled a blank scroll and paintbrush out.

Laid down on the dirty earth, she rolled out the paper before twirling the brush about in her left hand. Without a doubt it was her dominant hand; not a ninja, not ambidextrous. She drew with a natural grace though, practised ease. So she had some skill at art then.  
Crouching down beside her current working space, Tenzō watched as the lines slowly came together and he was staring at a picture of his face. Nothing incredibly detailed, just a quick, rough sketch. And there were squiggles wrote beneath it.

"Ten-zo," she whispered, pointing at the first set of squiggles, then the second, and he realised that this had to be her language on paper. Taking the brush, he wrote his name correctly beneath it, watching as she grimaced at the characters so different from her own.

.

She took the brush back and soon enough there was a picture of the Third Hokage, hat and all sat there on his paper, staring up at him, lips curved into a soft smile beneath the pipe in his mouth.

"Tenzō," she pointed at him before quickly drawing a picture of him piggybacking her, "Hokage." She whispered, pointing at the leader of his village. At least that was one word she knew, jabbing the picture repeatedly.

She wanted him to take her to the Hokage. He had no idea how she knew he was part of the Leaf's forces, he was in ANBU gear and without a distinguishing mark. And civilians certainly didn't see ANBU long enough to register which village ninja dressed like what. She was irritating but he needed answers; how had she snuck up on him and why was her chakra system such a tight flux?  
Perhaps 'The Professor' would be able to think of a way for them to communicate with each other?

Settling back into a seated position as she went back to drawing, now the clearing around them, Tenzō frowned.  
This, was far too complicated for his liking.

* * *

_Why the Hokage? What other way to get into the village is there? I had information that they needed; I wasn't going to hand it all over right away, I needed to appear useful, otherwise they wouldn't keep me. _  
_It was a dangerous game all right, but if there was more a chance that Konoha had some freaky jutsu that could learn me a language than any other village. They did have mind ninja after all. _  
_As long as if I had something they wanted, then I'd be okay._

_At least, that was the idea._

* * *

Having spent all morning scouting the surrounding area and collecting information from nearby villages, Kakashi Hatake was understandably tired. He'd had no sleep as he'd offered to play guard of their camp for the night before heading out to start the mission afterwards, all so his younger companion could get some well deserved rest. His body was regretting it, but his mind wasn't.  
Because a well rested Tenzō meant a happy Tenzō, and a happy Tenzō usually meant a nice little wooden house for the two of them to crash at whilst on this mission.

.

Landing on a tree branch, Kakashi looked into the clearing through the slitted eyes of his mask before pausing. Tenzō was sat, watching a girl older than him -but somewhere between the younger ninja's age and Kakashi's nineteen years of life- draw all over an open scroll.  
Dropping into the clearing, Kakashi watched as the civilian girl jumped at his presence, startled whereas Tenzō just offered up a lazy wave.

"Who is this?" Kakashi directed his question towards the unmasked Tenzō, the younger nin smiling sheepishly.

"She snuck up on me sempai, through from her reaction she wasn't intending to. I have no idea where she comes from."

Kakashi frowned, kneeling down next to the girl beside his companion. She was thin but with the soft curves of a civilian, and she was wearing Tenzō's clothes.

"She wasn't exactly wearing a lot," Tenzō mused, having noticed his scrutiny, the wood user gesturing to the yellow vest top that lay abandoned by the side of them.

.

Whilst he was speaking with his fellow ANBU, the girl seemed to have decided she didn't like not being able to see his face, because she reached forwards, fingertips just brushing against the edges of his mask.  
He didn't move his gaze from Tenzō, grabbing at her hand to prevent an unmasking. She pulled her hand upwards and he wearily let go. Her fingers ghosted through his hair and a fond smile lit up her face.

"Hatake," she whispered, looking to Tenzō as if asking if her assumptions were correct. It was widely accepted that his hair and its shade was a specific Hatake trait, but for a civilian to know that?

Turning his attention to the pictures she'd drawn, Kakashi quickly gathered what she'd asked Tenzō to do; to take her to the Hokage.

"She doesn't speak our language," Tenzō happily filled in, watching in amusement as the girl pressed her finger to his chest, repeating his name.

She then put her hand to her chest, whispering, "Uki," before gesturing for Kakashi to copy her. Rolling his eyes and itching to get back to his mission, Kakashi placed one hand on his collar bone.

"Inu." She clearly didn't believe him, her face twisted up in annoyance as a short laugh left her lips.

"Woof woof," she giggled, eyes alight with humour at the name he'd given her.  
Tenzō gave a quick laugh before forcing himself to stop and schooling his expression. Kakashi wouldn't admit he was smiling slight beneath his own mask, so with a sigh, he took off the Inu mask, leaving him in just his usual black one. She didn't seem surprised that he wore it, which brought up even more questions she wouldn't understand.  
Yes, after this mission he'd be taking her back to Konoha with them.

"Hatake-sama," she mused, running a hand through his messy hair before grinning and turning to look at the brunette. "Tenzō-chan."  
Kakashi snorted, ignoring the offended look on the ANBU's face.

* * *

_At some point, I did manage to gather that the two of them were on a mission, and that I would without a doubt be a liability if I even attempted to follow them. So, after several shaky drawings -and one wooden house courtesy of Tenzō- we had been set for the night. _

_It was a given that the two of them had disappeared into the night to chase after whatever doomed soul they had been released on. _  
_And I had been left all on my own; maybe with an undetectable wood-clone if I was lucky, but I had probably been on my own. I'd made both of them promise to take me to the Hokage, made them pinkie promise. Whether they knew what the gesture had meant, I wasn't sure, but they had done it._

_Now there was just the question of how the hell I'd gotten here. Something that still stumps me even now._

* * *

_I'm freakin' out_  
_So where am I now?_  
_Upside down_  
_And I can't stop it now_  
_It can't stop me now,_  
_Ohhh_

_I, I'll get by_  
_I, I'll survive_  
_When the world's crashin' down_  
_When I fall and hit the ground_  
_I will turn myself around_  
_Don't you try to stop me_  
_I, I won't cry_

_-Alice, Avril Lavigne_

* * *

**Another one I wrote whilst on the move. This story will have longer chapters than what I usually do, but it'll take longer to update I guess. Not quite sure where I'm going with this, but I'll figure that out as I go along. I hope you all like this.**

**Ages:  
Uki-18 years old  
Kakashi- 19 years old  
Tenzō- 15 years old**

**Starts two years before the massacre, in August, three day's before Yamato's birthday. So it's August 7th.**

**Tsume  
xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Native Tongue  
Chapter 2**

* * *

_The trek back to Konoha was unreal. I can remember watching the anime and thinking that they were not moving all that fast. That if I had chakra, I could probably copy them. I retract that statement now._

_It is actually unreal how fast ninja's can move, and I feel like smacking myself over the head daily for doubting them. It was awe inspiring, and oh so very terrifying. I was thrown into a world with no special powers under my belt, hell, there was no magical translator in my brain that even let me speak to the locals. I was completely and utterly dependent on the two ninja's I was travelling with, without a doubt.  
They were suspicious enough of me so I was very, very careful not to make a slip up with any information I had. My body language was probably giving me away though, I was entirely too confident and at ease in their presence; mainly because I knew that they were, for lack of better terms, the good guys._

_Even when Kakashi had come back from their mission covered in blood I hadn't really batted an eyelash, it looked close enough to dye so I was able to brush it off. As long as I pinched my nose that was._  
_In fact, looking back on it, it was rather obvious that something was wrong with me through their eyes._

* * *

Kakashi was frustrated. Sitting up in the inn bed, the silver haired ANBU rubbed wearily at his hair before casting his gaze towards the bed beside his own.  
The girl, Uki, was laid out across the mattress, one hand tossed above her head, groping for the wooden framework whilst the other lazily scratched at her stomach.  
In her unconsciousness, the yellow vest she'd brought with her had ridden upwards, exposing her midriff, which was neither toned nor fat. Somewhere between. A pair of black shorts that reached mid-thigh covered her lower half, something that Tenzō had purchased for her after the first awkward night where she'd forcibly cocooned herself in the blankets for the night and refused to come out.

Her behaviour was irritating.

.

Right now, he was ninety three percent sure that the girl wasn't a ninja. There were certain traits that an undercover could only hid for so long, a time which was cut exceptionally shorter when under twenty four hour watch like the girl had been.  
Her resting heart-beat was average for a civilian, whereas a ninja's was at least a third of that. She had very specific mannerisms that she didn't even try to hid though, even for those undercover, it was possible to tell when the emotions were forced, even the slightest of clues.  
The girl was nothing but open honesty; she truly didn't understand their language. Not the slightest of idea's; they'd taught her the word for water four times already and it was clearly tormenting her that she couldn't even remember the word, never mind pronounce it.

Only an infiltrator of exceptional skill would have been able to baffle him for so long; the last one that good had been Jiraiya, who'd had to give it up as his name and looks became more and more well known. It took years to match that kind of skill, to hide the graceful, swift movements of a ninja behind a weak civilian visage.  
Years and years of practising, and this girl clearly didn't have years behind her. It was no henge, there was no fluctuation in her chakra to say otherwise. Which lead to the conclusion that she was most probably sincere.

Unfortunately, this left even more questions unanswered. If she was an infiltrator, at least the plan of action would have been simple. He didn't have any protocol for a foreigner demanding to see the Hokage.

.

Standing up, Kakashi turned to look at Tenzō. The wood ninja was curled up on his own mattress, tucked into a neat little ball that took up as little room as possible. This didn't surprise Kakashi, who'd been running missions with the boy for the past four years; he'd always slept the same way.

Twisting back around till he could get a good look at their guest Kakashi sighed before making his way over to the girl and pressing one hand to her shoulder after he'd pulled his mask back up from where it'd curled around his collar bones.  
Whilst that would be enough to wake any shinobi, the girl was a civilian, so Kakashi took to shaking her form a bit and watching in slight amusement as the girl blinked her bleary eyes.

"Kakashi-san?"  
That was another thing, she knew their honorifics but not their language. How strange indeed. One good point about the girl so far though, was that he'd quickly found her to be a great cook.

They'd stopped at a similar inn to this one last night which came with it's own kitchenette in the rooms, and the girl had managed to work wonders with the handful of herbs she'd grabbed on the way and the potato's they'd presented her with. Whilst a bowl of chips each wasn't exactly the most filling dish, it'd been good, and Kakashi was pretty happy to let her cook breakfast today.  
Of course he'd be watching every move she made for any traces of poison, but so far, nothing.

"Maa, breakfast?" He gestured over to the stove at her confused glance and watched as her eyes lit up in understanding.

Pulling the hem of her shirt down then adjusting her tight fitting shorts -Kakashi's keen eye quickly picked up on the fact there didn't appear to be any panty lines present- Uki made her way over to the fridge and pulled the door open.  
Kakashi had made sure Tenzō had stopped for breakfast foods in the nearby store, and he'd taken the girl with him whilst Kakashi organised the inn.

The girl had reappeared with his partner in all things ninja, clutching a grocery bag to her chest with Tenzō frowning at his lighter looking wallet. As she began pulling things from the cool depths of the white utility, Kakashi got a quick look at what she was pulling out. Rashers of bacon, sausages, tomato's, mushrooms, beans, eggs and bread lined the counter-top. Pans quickly joined the line-up and Kakashi frowned at the lack of rice.

What the hell was she making?

* * *

_Way back before I came to this place, I'd had a great family. My parents ran a restaurant, pretty high class in our town and I'd quickly started to learn how to cook.  
By the time I was sixteen, I had almost all the recipes on the menu memorized, from starters to desserts. My brothers had been the same; we were all heading into the family business, perhaps even opening up a branch restaurant in some other town when we flew the nest._

_Of course, that dream's pretty much dead now, but it still meant I had the cooking skills, and just a little more than a hundred specific recipes stored away in my mind._  
_Now that I look back on it, this was probably the only reason I wasn't hog tied and carted back to the Hokage like a prize; both Kakashi and Tenzō sucked at preparing food, and lets not even go near their cooking ability. Tenzō came the closest to having some form of skill; he knew that sticking meat over a fire till the skin was crispy meant the food was good to eat._  
_Better than Kakashi, who I soon learned relied on microwavables and whatever food-stand was within a ten minute radius._

* * *

When Tenzō woke up, it was to the oddest of smells. Like meat, but mixed with something else. Rubbing at his eyelids before sitting up on the lumpy mattress he'd been stuck with, the young ANBU wearily eyed the two people stood up to the kitchenette.  
Kakashi was stood over their tag-along, watching her hands move with the eyes of a hawk.

Dishing up the food that was without a doubt the cause of the yummy smell in the air, Uki was completely focused upon the pan in front of her, tactically ignoring the ninjas watching her. What looked like beans in some kind of sauce flopped out of the pan onto the plate, completing the rather off collection of food before them. She proudly announced a word that could have meant anything from 'finished' to 'breakfast', before quickly picking up one of the plates. She was still awkward, especially with her broken wrist, but she was adapting until they could get to a medical ninja.

Kakashi picked up the two remaining plates before dropping them onto the table as Uki sunk into her own seat, grinning proudly to herself. She'd set up the table with knives and forks, utensils that were rarely used in their culture, but appeared to be all she knew. Her effort with the chopsticks the previous night had been laughable at worse and cringe worthy at best.

.

Once he'd seated himself at the table, Tenzō joined Kakashi in wearily regarding the food as the girl dug in.

"She crushed half the tomatoes, that's what the bean sauce is," Kakashi muttered as Tenzō inspected the vegetables, frowning as he turned his gaze up to look at the girl. Uki looked back at them with her wide, dark eyes. She'd stopped eating when they hadn't started, with such a confused and lost look on her face that Tenzō had to smile sheepishly. The girl probably thought she'd got some custom wrong or another, what with the way her head was all but trying to shrink into her neck.

"Let's just try it, the chips were good last night," Tenzō finally murmured, awkwardly lifting up a fork before poking at the yolk of the egg, watching as it ran over into the white.

Beside him, Kakashi frowned and turned his gaze on the girl whom had started eating again. She had cut up the white of the egg first and started eating it along with the bacon and sausages. Occasionally, she'd shovel some of the mushrooms or beans into her mouth too, and all too soon her plate -noticeably less on it at the beginning than what the two of them had- was empty but the bread, which appeared to have been fried.  
That was used to mop up the juice from the beans, and Tenzō finally relented, stabbing a bit of everything but the bread onto his fork and tasting it. And it was good.  
Weird tasting, and with a strange texture, but it was good. Kind of like restaurant food actually.

"It's good sempai. She must have worked at an eatery before she came here," he mused, ruffling his own hair before quickly digging into his food before it could get cold. Uki, apparently happy with their reactions, leapt to her feet, reaching for the juicer and a bag of oranges.

.

By the time she'd returned, Kakashi had eaten all his -Tenzō had blinked and missed it- and he was copying her movements in mopping up the bean juice with the bread. Uki apparently knew how to make juice too, because a glass of fresh orange liquid was present before them and there was a light hesitant smile on her face. He'd been watching her as she made it, and knew that the only person that'd get killed by that drink was someone who was deathly allergic to oranges. Didn't mean it wouldn't burn like a bee-sting if he got it in his eye though.

Kakashi had taken the time to pull a map out of his pack, spreading it across the table before pointing to the small village they were currently nesting in. When the two of them looked up, the silver haired nin's drink was gone, and he was tapping one finger against the side of his cranium. He was thinking?  
When the girl nodded, Tenzō quickly realized it was for Uki's benefit, and Kakashi pointed at the clock before twisting it around in one full circle. He was expecting this to be the last trek to Konoha today then, and that they'd arrive in twelve hours. Uki seemed to understand too because she offered a deep bow before skipping over to fetch her clothes.

"She seems genuine," Tenzō finally mumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck as he pushed the plate away from him and towards the center of the table.

"Yes, which is the problem. I'm pretty certain that a Yamanaka will be able to implant some memories of our language into her brain, but what then? She clearly isn't from around here; if her language and gestures don't give it away, the food certainly does."

"She could always get a job in Konoha, work towards her own restaurant or something. She's a good cook Kakashi-sempai, you can't deny it."  
His masked superior scowled, rubbing at his forehead in annoyance.

"She doesn't seem to be showing signs of a sleeper agent, but I guess the two of us will be assigned to keep an eye on her when we return to the village, just in case."

* * *

_If there's one down side to living in the ninja nations, it's that their hot water barely last ten minutes. It was a painful learning experience the first time, when I'd let both Kakashi and Tenzō shower before me, then got the shock of a life time when I'd stepped under the spray. _

_It was needless to say I wouldn't be making that mistake again, ever. Coming from a house where there was hot water on demand, to here, was not fun. It only pointed out how, in comparison to my own world, underdeveloped all the technology was around here.  
The air and environment was so much clear I couldn't stop the feeling of pleasure whenever I breathed in . There were no cars, no guns, no weapons of mass destruction; if you didn't count the ninja and Bijū that was. There was so much wrong with it on a universal level that it wasn't even funny._

_And I was woefully, laughably, under-armed._

* * *

Lugging the girl higher up his waist in mid-jump, Kakashi let out a low sigh as the gates of Konoha came into view before the two of them. Uki had her arms coiled around his shoulders, one forefingers tapping against his right collarbone in a smooth rhythm as her chin rested upon his shoulder.  
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the smooth curve of her nose, the slightest dark flutters of her eyelashes as she blinked repeatedly. She was young looking for her age, which he guessed to be about eighteen. She looked older when her hair was pulled back; by the wind in this case. She looked her correct age if he was honest.

.

Slowing his pace till they were walking along the worn path that lead up to the village, Kakashi looked over at Tenzō. The ANBU had pulled his mask down again, just like Kakashi, so that they were the ANBU that'd left.  
As far as anyone else knew, Kakashi Hatake had been on a long mission to the Land of Lightning for the past year. ANBU couldn't exist if its workers were still walking around the streets in times like this. Missions were coming in thick and fast, and they were needed.  
Though, he had been playing with the idea of going back to being a Jonin once the influx of missions settled. Less blood-shed and more sleeping time. It sounded like a winning formula anyway you looked at it. He'd been in ANBU far too long as it was.

.

"ANBU-san," the Chũnin at the gate, a faceless ninja Kakashi didn't recognise nodded to him, and Kakashi returned the gesture.

"We picked up this one," Tenzō explained, gesturing to the shoeless girl on his superiors back with a lazy hand. The girl, Uki, seemed to realize that she was being talked about, because she perked up a bit and offered a shy wave, grinning slightly from over his shoulder. "She doesn't speak our language, but seemed to know about the Hokage, asked us to take her to him."

"Is she a sleeper agent?"  
Kakashi shrugged absent-mindedly and jostling the girl in the process. She let out a timid squeak, clinging a bit tighter to his shoulders but her eyes were on the village in shocked wonder.

"I doubt it. She seems to be genuine and just as confused as anyone else would be in a land of strange with a strange language." The Chũnin hummed before sighing off some papers, labelling the girl as a possible threat but not a high levelled one, once Tenzō explained she was without a doubt not a ninja.

"I hope she is okay, she'd kinda cute," the guy murmured, looking at Uki over his shoulder and Kakashi scowled beneath his mask.  
Talk about a liability in the ranks. Sure the girl's features were unique, her eye shape was completely wrong and her hair was just this side of wavy, but that didn't make her cute. It just made her odd. Though if they were going by her body...  
Kakashi was still in his teens, he could appreciate the bound curves that'd been pressed up against his back for the duration of their current travels. She was quite generously gifted in that area, he would admit.

"Sempai? You coming?" Tenzō's amused voice reached his ears and Kakashi rolled his eyes. It didn't make the girl different, there were loads of people -noticeably loads of kunoichi- with curves. The only difference with this girl was the language barrier. Mystery, mystery, mystery.

* * *

Arriving at the Hokage's office, Kakashi gently set the shoeless girl down, pulling off his mask to face the Third Hokage. His villages leader looked back at him, obviously questioning the girl's presence when they'd just returned from an assassination mission.

Kakashi let Tenzō do the talking, instead watching as the girl looked around the office, taking in the sight with the same opened mouthed expression she'd worn upon looking at Konoha. It was almost refreshing in a way, watching as the girl take in everything around her. She'd been almost the same way when they'd displayed their ninja skills, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing was real.  
It was childishly cute in that regard, so much so it'd actually made him chuckle the first time. Now it just made him grin as she took in the things around her.

Halfway through Tenzō's explanation though, she seemed to grow bored though, because she got to her feet and made her way towards the Hokage.  
Both he and Tenzō tensed, but the girl just squatted slightly next to their leader, cupping her hand around his ear before whispering something short into it.

Whatever she'd said made the Hokage go stiff, and he turned to look at her in something akin to shock. Uki just frowned, nodding gravely before settled back a bit, obviously uncomfortable under the stare in regards to whatever she'd just shared.

"Go fetch me Inochi Yamanaka. Now."

* * *

_What will we do, what will we say, when it's the end of this game that we play_  
_Will we crumble into the dust, my friend_  
_or will we start this game over again_  
_It's coming back to me _  
_It's coming back to me _  
_It's coming back to me_

_-Dangerous Game, Three Doors Down_

* * *

**A little shorter, but the next chapter will make up for it I do believe. Sorry this took so long -at least, it feels a while- I've been working on '_What an Excellent Plan_' and '_Bone of Contention_'. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. **

**Starts two years before the massacre (I wrote it wrong in the last chapter, sorry), in August, three day's before Yamato's birthday. So it's August 7th. Naruto and co are about five years old.**

**Thank you all so much for reading,**

**Tsume  
xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Native Tongue  
Chapter 3**

* * *

_Maybe mentioning Orochimaru and sharingan, those two little words, on my first meeting to the Hokage had been a bit stupid. I was moved right away into a detention cell within the deep, dark depths of ANBU headquarters, but I wasn't treated too roughly. Well, it was more of a 'pick the girl up and teleport to the cell', but I suppose in consideration to what they do to other prisoners, it was quite pleasant circumstances._  
_There was a bed for me to sit on whilst waiting, and the room wasn't freezing, so I didn't have much room to complain. My only nightmare was that Ibiki would be my first visitor. Seeing as I turned into a blubbering wreck whenever I'd sprain my ankle, I dread to think what kind of state I'd be left in if Ibiki's was my first visitor._

_Thankful, Ibiki wouldn't be gracing me with his presence for a long while._

* * *

Inoichi Yamanaka had been in his flower shop, explaining the difference between crocus and tulips to his daughter when the ANBU had arrived. Little Ino had been perch on the counter-top, clutching one of each flower in hands rounded with baby-fat. She stared at the masked nin that approached the shop, and when he opened the door, the bell went off. Inoichi could only imagine the look of disdain below the mask as the metal announced his presence. Then again, if the ANBU didn't want to be noticed, he wouldn't be. Which meant that he wasn't here tracking or looking for anything suspicious.

"Yamanaka Inoichi?" The ANBU tilted his head to a side as he talked, sending a questioning look to the man's daughter.

With a small squeal, Ino leapt off the counter, all blonde hair and blue eyed as she raced towards the ANBU pawing at the poor man's pant leg.

"You're a kitty!" She cried, holding her hands up in the universal command to be picked up from the ground. Looking as distinctly uncomfortable as a masked ninja highly training in assassination could, the man bent down and scooped Ino up, keeping her far enough away that she wouldn't be able to unmask him.

"You're needed in T&I Yamanaka-san."

"But I quit?" It was most certainly a question that he'd asked, because if the Hokage demanded it, he'd be pulled back in regardless of his personal opinion.

"It's just for one case."  
Looking back at his baby girl, Inoichi sighed deeply. His dear wife wouldn't be home for the next two hours from the spa, and and his two friends were off sorting through the Jonin ranks. So who could he possibly leave his little angel with?

Ino giggled again, pressing one of her hands against the man's shoulder before turning back to look at her father questioningly.

"The girl can come, the threat level is not even above civilian level, and there will be two ANBU and the Hokage present."  
That didn't make him feel much better, but what else could he do? ANBU nearby, and the threat-level so low, surly it wouldn't be that too big of a risk?

Finally, Inoichi sighed, holding out his arms for his daughter.

"Ino-chan, we're going to go and talk to someone, okay? Daddy might have to use his jutsu, so I want you to pay attention, okay?"  
The little girl squealed, clearly all too happy to be taught about her clan jutsus earlier than what he'd previously planned, and Inoichi didn't want to tell her why.

"Okay then, let's get going."

.

Whoever they were holding in T&I, they'd certainly gotten the best room they had to offer. And he didn't meant that in a sadistic way either; the room was basic for a cell, but comfortable.

"Who is it?" Inoichi asked over his daughter's head, who was once again looking between the two flowers with rapt interest. His little girl would be running shifts at the shop in no time, and she would without a doubt be spending the pocket change she earned on clothing if she was anything like her mother.  
The door was opened by the ANBU and the two of them were lead in. Already the Hokage was waiting for them, along with the ANBU wearing a dog mask that Inoichi was almost sure was that Hatake kid. Though he wouldn't call him out on it for obvious reasons. And then, there was the final occupant of the room.

She was sat neatly on the bed, with big brown eyes trained on him and a warm smile on her face. Her features were exotic to them, eyes shaped so very different than any others he'd seen before. When the three of them entered, she waved shyly, a little blush covering her cheeks before she kicked her legs back and forwards over the edge of the bed.

"Inoichi-kun, I'm glad you could make it. I take it you were unable to find someone to look after little Ino?"  
His daughter rounded on the Hokage before her eyes sought out the oddity in the room. She stared at the girl and the girl, no, the young woman stared back.

"Inoichi, this is Uki-san. Inu and Neko found her; she does not appear to know our language, but said something quite worrying. I assume you know what I require you to do."  
Ino was still looking at the girl before her before she smiled, sheepishly holding out the two flowers she'd pulled along with her.

"You're really pretty Uki-san."  
The brunette just smiled slightly, head slowly sinking into her shoulders as she accepted the flowers. Inoichi watched as the girl carefully placed them upon her lap, making sure the flower-heads were facing upwards and that the stems didn't tangle. Her movements were too awkward to be a ninja, and judging by the chakra levels and it's strange fluctuation, she was without a doubt a civilian.  
Ino seemed to take a liking to her though, and would probably have tried to ask her more questions had Inu's hand not come down on her shoulder and pulling her back. His little girl went to tell the ANBU off, but one look at that masked face and body language and she knew not to say anything.

"Okay, here we go," Inoichi murmured, chakra collecting in his right palm as he brought it down on the girl's forehead. She looked up with a small smile, nervously biting at her lip as her eyelids fluttered shut. The ANBU muttering under their breath was the last thing he heard before falling into the girl's mind.

* * *

_Having someone else in your mind is about as far from cool as you can fact, it was a very uncomfortable feeling. It was around this time I realized that my mind was just as crazy on the inside as if felt on the inside. It was something like vegetable soup, only it was all in chunks within the thick liquid, as opposed to the thin, crisp texture it was suppose to be. Moving around inside it was sluggish, and finding anything was almost impossible._  
_And, well, if you did manage to find anything, it was almost impossible to keep a hold of it._

_Later on, Inoichi would explain to me most minds -translation, every mind he'd ever been in- were as clean as the filing cabinet of an OCD sufferer. I was just the weird one, with a mind full of clutter and no organisational skills whatsoever._  
_How he managed to find anything, let alone understand me within that mind-scape would forever be a mystery._

* * *

The girl's mind was a mess. That was Inoichi's first thought when he came to inside it. Already his head was throbbing with all that he'd learnt -an entire language- just by dropping into her mind. The second thing he'd quickly realized was that she most certainly wasn't from this world, and had no idea how she'd managed to arrive here. The last thing he realized, was that some of her memories were under heavy lock and key, unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

The girl herself was stood before him, a frown upon her face and looking just as woozy as he felt. She was staring at all the passing thoughts in something akin to wonder, and he could understand why. There was nothing like this where she came from.

"Uki-san?" He knew her actual name now, but it felt foreign on his tongue, so didn't bother to use it.

"Yes?" The girl looked up, cocking her head to a side and Inoichi was quick to realize that it wasn't her speaking his language, but in fact the other way around.

"So this is..."

"English. My language is English." She stood up before closing the gap between them, holding out her right hand with an easy going smile on her face.

"Hi, I guess my name is Uki."

"Inoichi Yamanaka."

"It is so nice to actually be able to have a conversation with someone," Uki chuckled to herself, rubbing nervously at the back of her skull before another grin spread across her face. "Your daughter is adorable by the way. You'll have to teach me thank you in your language, because those flowers were pretty."  
Inoichi nodded, twisting his chakra about in an attempt to search the girl's memories, looking for anything specific to his world, to Konoha. Because the Hokage said she had some worrying words to say, something that he'd need to find out.

The girl just sat beside him again, watching her own memories flash by and laughing at certain clips that passed them.  
She was easy going and quite laid back for eighteen; Inoichi knew few people like it, but then again, all he knew were ninja. This girl was from a world where they didn't worry about that. The main focus there was studying enough to get a good education and thus, a good job. The system was so very different from his own that it was almost a shock, but Inoichi let it pass quickly.

Uki began whistling through her mouth, a upbeat tune that showed through her thoughts, which took on a much lighter hearted theme.  
This could take a while.

.

Returning to the cell in which his physical body was, Inoichi let out a small groan before shaking his head. The girl opened her eyes, blinking slightly before sitting back and pressing one palm to her forehead. No wonder; looking through one's memories like that was increasingly taxing.

"Inoichi? What did you find?" The Hokage was stood before him now, little Ino in his arms as she played about with the Hokage hat.

"She appears to have a selection of a time-line, our time-line in her head, though I was unable to access any information on it. Her story is sound though, she's from another world and just seems to have dropped into here."  
The elder man frowned, handing Ino back to her father as he stroked at the small beard resting upon his chin. Beside the four adults, Uki perked up slightly, turning to look at Inoichi before cocking her head questioningly to a side.

"_Inoichi-san, can you still understand me?_"  
He seemed to have been able to pick up her entire language just by visiting her brain, which was certainly something that his clan could look into. However, Uki had not been able to pick up their language, and was now sat frowning at them when he didn't respond instantly.

"_Yes, I do. Though I'm still trying to figure out a way to get you to understand our language._" Silence descended upon the room as Inoichi replied to the girl, the two ANBU looking from one another before finally turning to the Hokage for his divine judgement. Ino was still staring at her father with wide eyes, which she'd been doing since he spoke those words so very different than her own.

"Inoichi, can you transfer our language to the girl?"

"I'd have to come up with a jutsu, and it would take months at least. We've developed jutsu's to get in others minds, not let them in our own. But I think I could come up with something."

"And how would you feel about taking the girl in until further notice? You are the only one that speaks her language, and my ANBU tell me she is an excellent cook."  
Turning his gaze back to the brunette, who was looking between the two of them so hopelessly lost, Inoichi felt a twang of pity.

"Just until she knows our language then."

* * *

_Inoichi was incredibly kind in regards into accepting me into his family. Of course, all weariness of my random appearance had left him when he'd entered my mind for a good snoop around. I wasn't too sure if he'd found what he was looking for, but I knew without a doubt he'd be looking for things on the Hokage's orders. I'd be ignorant to believe he wasn't. And without a doubt I'd be on a caution within the village._

_I've been into my mind-scape since then, and I knew for a fact that almost all my Naruto knowledge was hidden away behind a locked door that only I could open, so he probably hadn't found what he was looking for that one time. I wasn't quite sure what they saw me as back then, and to be honest I'm still not entirely sure now._  
_A prophet, perhaps someone who was just blessed with knowledge or that I was really good at guessing what would be to come, I wasn't sure._

_Though I did know for certain that Inoichi would be sitting me down to ask a lot of uncomfortable questions about what I knew at some point. Either that, or I'd be taken to the Hokage to cough up everything I knew the second I could speak the language. It was inevitable, but I hoped he'd put it off long enough for me to get settled in._  
_Thankfully, he did._

* * *

"Daddy, why can't she speak our language?" Ino had been pulling on his sleeve for the the entire walk home, her bright blue eyes darting from his form over to Uki's.  
The girl was wearing a pair of standard shinobi pants that were quite possibly borrowed from the smaller ANBU, along with a turtle-neck shirt that was a tad tight in some places. She wasn't as in shape as she could be, but she was a civilian, so Inoichi would give her some credit. Though he hoped that he could persuade her into joining Ino's training sessions. His little girl already seemed to be quite taken with their guest, even if she didn't properly understand what was going on.

"Uki-san comes from a very far away land sweetheart."

"Is that why she looks funny? I mean, in a pretty way though." Blushing, Ino looked up at Uki to see if she was insulted, but the girl was just looking down at her with a bemused smile, quite clearly having no idea on what was being said about her, but somehow understanding she was the topic of the conversation.

"Yes, her looks will be native to whatever land she is from. Uki-san will be staying with us for a while until we can figure out a way to transfer our language into her brain. Until then, we'll be teaching her the old-fashioned way. It's a good thing we kept your baby books."  
Ino laughed a bit before grabbing hold of Uki's hand, holding her free arm up in a request to be picked up. The brunette laughed under her breath but nevertheless picked his daughter up, throwing her up and over around her neck, until Ino was sat atop her shoulders, pudgy hands in her messy brown hair.

"I like her. She can stay a while," Ino murmured, patting Uki's head as the elder girl just grinned up at her.

"_My daughter approves of you,_" Inoichi mused, watching as Uki laughed lightly at that, both her hands delicately curled around his little girl's ankles to steady her.

"_I am glad. She seems exceedingly pleasant. I only hope I can learn your language quick enough to not bore her._"  
His guest was so beautifully polite, she'd even bowed when he explained they'd be taking her in, even though it wasn't a custom in her own country.

She stood at around five foot five, a little taller than the average height of women around here, but average back in her homeland as far as he was aware. He could see the light, almost shiny skin that signalled a scar on her ankle, a precise cut that he knew, from her memories, had been necessary to fix her broken ankle.  
He also knew that there was a burn mark on her inner forearm, near the elbow joint, which she'd gotten from coming too close to the edge of an oven. It would be a darker patch against her skin, and both physical flaws would make identifying her easier. If her unique language didn't already manage it.

"_I am sure you will do fine Uki-san."_

_._

Pushing open the door to his home, Inoichi rubbed nervously at the back of his neck, looking around for his regal wife. She would without a doubt be considering when to start cooking dinner, but Uki had already insisted that she be allowed to do it, as not only was it the one thing she was good at, but she wanted to repay them for taking her into their home. Inoichi wasn't against it. If the Hatake brat was singing her food praises, it had to be good.

Making his way into the main-room that branched off from the entrance hall, Inoichi let out a small sigh. His wife was curled up on the living room couch, a psychology book resting in her lap. Her head was turned towards him in obvious confusion and Inoichi smiled sheepishly.

"We're home Suzuki... And we have a guest."  
The small bundle of odd chakra rounded the corner next to his daughter's and Inoichi could see the exact moment when his dear Suzuki took in their tag along. Her eyes widened slightly, no doubt taking in the girl's ruffled appearance and borrowed clothing.

"Oh dear," Suzuki stood, gliding over to Uki's side before clasping her hands in front of herself. "Please ignore my husband, his manners are awful. I'll take you shopping for some clothing tomorrow. I was going to be taking Ino soon anyway."  
Their blonde daughter whooped slightly, always pleased with the idea of getting more clothing whilst Uki just blinked, a nervous yet entertained smile spreading across her lips.

"She can't speak our language dear. Not yet at least."

Watching in amusement as his uptown wife went about fussing over the clearly uncomfortable girl, Inoichi flicked his eyes back to the book his wife was reading. Whilst she was not a Yamanaka by blood and as such, could no preform any of their jutsu's due to incompatible chakra, she was forever reading up on the psychology of the human brain.  
His wife, forever the scholar.

"_Uki-san, would you like to begin making dinner?_" Inoichi mused with an amused smile, finally throwing the girl a bone. Her head shot up to look at him, bright brown eyes flooding with relief as she nodded.  
Offering his wife a few words as an explanation, Inoichi gestured to the door on the left for Uki to make her way through.

* * *

The girl that her dear husband had brought home was exceedingly strange. Running her hands along the cloth before flipping it over to once again fold it, Suzuki Yamanaka let out a small sigh as she eyed the dress laid out on her bed with weary eyes. It was a pretty thing, but older than her dear daughter. She'd bought it for her first date with Inoichi, and was hesitant to give it away. But now it was sat in her wardrobe collecting dust, for the style was too young for her now. A small summer dress was all it was, a simple pinky cream with pattern of swallow silhouettes; her father had been a travelling salesmen and had purposely kept this dress off sale until his darling daughter had gathered enough of her wage in order to purchase it.  
Suzuki owed a lot to that dress, but perhaps it was time to let it go.

Folding the last bedsheet for their now occupied guest room, the brunette plucked up the short gown before making her way downstairs. Little Ino was playing away with a set of wooden kunai, practising for the academy. Her darling daughter would be starting her schooling in a mere three days, and she was already determined to be the best one their. Neither parents had a problem with this goal.  
Making her way further into the house, Suzuki's nostrils twitched slightly a the smell in the air. It was foreign, but smelt incredibly good.

.

Peeking inside the kitchen, Suzuki paused, watching as their house-guest pulled a lidded pot from the oven. She was cooking fish, without a doubt, but she'd never smelt anything like it.

"It's smoked haddock apparently. Never seen any fish cooked in milk before though," Inoichi's dry comment from beside her had Suzuki jump, turning around to see her husband leaning against the side of the wall.

"She's quite good, or at least, the ANBU that brought her in said anyway."

.

As the girl put the fish back into the oven -apparently not quite finished yet- Suzuki gently tapped her on the shoulder in order to gather her attention. Then, she present the girl with the dress, neatly folded in her arms. The short haired brunette turned to look at Inoichi, confusion written on her face.

There was a passing conversation in that odd language before her husband mused a, "thank you."  
Before Suzuki could even ask what he meant, the girl took the dress, dropping into a awkward bow before her.

"Thank you Suzuki-san," Uki whispered, her accent rough and heavy on her words. Her pronunciation wasn't brilliant, but the girl had tried, had asked her husband how to properly thank her for a hand-down dress that she could wear till they went shopping.  
Maybe, Suzuki thought, watching as the girl set her dress neatly upon the back of the dining room chair, this girl wouldn't be so bad to have around.

The Yamanaka family would later welcome her with open arms the second they were finished with their meal, along with a plate requesting seconds.

* * *

_I'm longing, for words to describe how I'm feeling_  
_I'm feeling inspired_  
_My world just flip turned upside down_  
_It turns around, say what's that sound_  
_It's my heart beat, it's getting much louder_  
_My heart beat, is stronger than ever_  
_I'm feeling so alive, I'm feeling so alive_

_-Twist in my story, Secondhand Serenade_

* * *

**So, I was suppose to update 'Bone of Contention' next, but this just wouldn't leave my head, hence the earlier than normal update. **

**As for how Uki will help, I honestly have no idea. I haven't planned that far ahead yet. She won't be adopting Naruto in any form, because he's the village Jinchuriki, like they'd let a foreigner anywhere near him, never-mind take him in. I'm toying with the idea of her becoming some form of a teacher once she has the lingo down, but that won't be for a while yet I'm afraid.  
And how far her knowledge of the Naru-verse goes? I'm not sure of that either, haha, forgive me?**

**Thank you all so much for reading,**

**Tsume  
xxx**


End file.
